First Annual Arizona Gives Day

The entire state of Arizona - lawmakers, grass-roots activists, businesses, non-profits, and the citizens - are all coming together on Wednesday March 20, 2013 to celebrate the new partnership appropriately dubbed Arizona Gives Day.

This initiative was born just under a year ago when it was brought to the table by Patrick McWhortor and Marissa Theisen of the groups Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits and the Arizona Grantmakers Forum. They were looking for a day of giving in our state that would be a collaboration between every citizen who calls Arizona home.

There are over 800 non-profit organizations participating in the day of giving tomorrow. Donations can be made online and the website is very easy to navigate. Recipients are involved with every corner of life for Arizonans.

Categories include:

• Animals
• Arts & Culture
• Children & Youth
• Community & Society
• Economic Development
• Education
• Environment
• Health
• Humanitarian Aid
• International
• Religion
• Science & Technology

To find out more about a cause or organization you'd like to support on Arizona Gives Day, visit azgives.org then donate as much as you can to help our state aspire to even greater heights!

Not in Arizona? No problem! We'd be happy to accept doantions coming in from across the country or across the globe!

Together, we can make Arizona the most generous state in the nation for even one day!

Life Is Good!

This past weekend here in Canton, Massachusetts the well known lover of all dogs, Life Is Good, held their rockin’ good time festival and Matt and I were lucky enough to attend on Sunday.

The festival, held on the grounds of Prowse Farm, featured so much it would be almost impossible to list it all here but I’ll highlight the stuff we took part in and saw.

We started the day with the best part of all -- free parking! Parking was graciously donated by Reebok as their building was about a ten minute walk from the field and they had a parking garage which housed a healthy number of cars. Instead of waiting for a shuttle bus, Matt and I walked the distance to the field with our beach chairs, backpack (filled with towels, a roll of toilet paper, our Nalgene bottles and travel sized Scrabble) and a smile.

We arrived right on time to get set up to see Emily Elbert. Originally from Texas, Emily went to school right here in Boston at Berkley. We’ve seen her live before and couldn’t wait to catch her act on a much larger stage. The music she does is a nice mix of bluesy, jazzy, poppy, rock and her voice holds so much soul you’d never think it was coming from such a teeny girl. She rocked and even had an interpreter signing for the crowd!

From there we made our way to get some food from the local vendors and the prices were really reasonable which was a welcomed change from most festivals I’ve attended. We passed the Life Is Good merchandise tent on the way. Oh yeah, did I happen to mention that 100% of the proceeds from this event of LiG merch are being donated to the Life is Good Kids Foundation?

Cool!

Next up for us was They Might Be Giants, one of Matt’s all time favorite acts. They have taken to doing lots of kids music in recent years but we’ve discovered that the jokes and chatting the guys do on stage in between the tunes is all for the grown ups. So, sans kids of our own, we hung out on the periphery and enjoyed the fun!  They made a funny reference to Woodstock when one of the John's came up to make an announcement and I even recognized a few tunes (Alphabet of Nations I think is one of them) from having taken our nephews to their show a few months back.

We had a bunch of idle time until the next act we were interested in seeing so it was time to mingle -- festival style!

We passed on taking part in the sporting events because we just like to walk around (and also because we both had a drink so safety first!). There was a rock climbing wall, Frisbee toss, bocce, tug-o-war and a whole slew of other fun stuff for all ages to take part in! On the way around we passed the Art for All Mural (pictured at the top of the post) and I was in love!

It consists of 1500 tiles that are hand painted in pre-determined colors/palates by selected volunteers and when it is all put together this 25’ high by 31’ wide canvas is a most impressive piece.

We made our way around to catch a little bit of Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars on the main stage (who were quite grooving, I danced my way across the field!) and then headed back to the smaller stage to watch OK Go and Brett Dennen.

We played a little Scrabble (I won which is pretty normal around here, I come from a long lineage of fierce Scrabble competitors!)

Took a few photos.

And then, I had a Say Anything moment with my favorite eco-conscious musician, the headliner that night, Jason Mraz. Just like Lloyd Dobler and Diane Court “shared a moment” in a mall food court in that movie, my moment with Jason was quite the exciting sighting for me. He passed by about ten feet away with, I think, his Joyologist Tricia but I wouldn’t swear to it. They were walking with a purpose and headed toward the main stage.

I nudged Matt and pointed Jason out but he didn’t catch on until the man himself had already passed by. Oh well, maybe one of these days I won’t be so shy and just approach the guy. I mean really, we have the planet in common at least even if nothing else right?

After Brett was wrapped up we had a lot of time before the next act we wanted to see, Jason, so we kind of milled about the place. We caught a slight snippet of Guster (good!) and Corinne Bailey Rae (very mellow) but when we got to the kid’s tent I was really happy we walked all the way down there.

We were lucky enough to see most of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and they were amazing! The name says it all, with Cajun, jazz and big band swing influence this act even got Matt dancing (a treasured moment to be sure!). These guys were supposed to open the main stage but had travel problems and couldn’t make it in for the 12:30 start. We were both really glad to have caught the act.

A little more wandering, people watching, throwing trash into the designated receptacles for compost, recycling and trash itself and claiming our spot to see the main stage from a vantage point a healthy distance away and we were ready for the main act.

Jason took the stage right on time and it was such a great performance we ended up heading closer toward the crowd so I could concert call a few friends, also fans of his.

Matt and I danced the entire set and it was a super fun show. Jason was opening his tour this month and I don’t know for sure but I think this was the first stop. He was full of energy and so was the huge crowd even when he performed a whole bunch of new music. At one point he tossed a piece of his cantaloupe into a guy’s mouth in the crowd then later invited the same guy (Joe) and another gal (Katie) up on stage to dance. Good times.

After the satisfying end to a day full of love, fun and music we walked back to the car, tired but happy to have had the experience and lucky enough to sit in zero traffic when leaving.

Thanks for such a great event Life is Good, the day was phenomenal and I can’t wait to hear how much you raised to support the Kids Foundation! ♥love♥

Ice and Dice Casino Night Fundraiser for Boston Bruins Foundation

Last night my aunt, her friend, and myself, all headed to Kowloon Chinese restaurant in Saugus, Massachusetts for the third annual Ice & Dice Casino Night. Tickets were only $30 and I knew the proceeds were going to a super worthy cause -- The Boston Bruins Foundation.

The Foundation is a not for profit that provides grant monies in the realms of athletic, academic, health and community outreach to various area children’s charities. For example, they have donated to The Children’s Room, a Youth All-City Choir, The Mayors Cup Roller Hockey program and Boston Partners in Education among many, many others.

Last night there were casino tables with all kinds of games but we stuck to a game with dice (it had an hourglass type cage with dice inside it that spun and you bet on numbers) and blackjack (my personal favorite). Bruins alumni, friends, family and many others were present to celebrate the evening for a great cause.

The night began with everyone receiving $1000 worth of chips and then at the end of the night the three people with the most chips won some pretty cool prizes, like a stick signed by the whole team. Then on the way out the ladies (and some of the men grabbed for their own ladies!) were rewarded by some nail polish (5 bottles!) donated by ProStrong.

Because gambling for cash is not legal in Massachusetts all the money was fun money but in order to raise even more, there were a few items in a live auction as well as a slew of silent auction items. Our friend even won one of the bids!

All proceeds from last night’s festivities went to further support the Foundation's Pan-Mass Challenge Bike Team's 2010 donation to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I don’t know the final tally but at one point our emcee for the evening, Bob Sweeney, Bruins alum and the Foundation’s Director of Development, told us they were in the neighborhood of $50,000 in total. Outstanding!

It was a really fun night and although I’m not much into gambling, the “fun money” atmosphere kept the mood light. Thinking about where the proceeds would be donated made me so happy to have been a part of it all. Thanks Bruins for your continued support of the youth of our fine city of Boston and thanks for a fantastic evening!

Interested in donating, volunteering or just finding out more about the Foundation? Head on over to their Donations Page for more information.

Project 365 Community Is Helping to Support Doctors Without Borders

Good morning folks, hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and that perhaps it is sun filled like ours here in the northeast United States! Matt and I have a full day today running around seeing friends who just moved back to the area, other close friends having a little get together and going to check out my mom’s photographic contribution to the “Images of Arlington” show over at the Arlington Center for the Arts.

In the spirit of supporting my mom’s photography, I thought it was high time to tell everyone about a really cool project she is involved in. The name of it is Project 365 and the premise is for all the photographers who are involved to snap and share one photograph a day. Might sound easy but 365 days is much longer than one might think when trying to find fresh ideas for photo subjects!

The group had the great idea to take a sampling of the captures and bind them together into one very awesome coffee table book which is available to purchase through blurb. The book is:

365 Community: A Photo A Day

There are professional photographers and everyday picture enthusiasts (and everyone in between!) featured in this book, but the best part of all is that all the proceeds from the sale of the book will be sent to support Doctors without Borders!

DwoB is an organization operating in over 60 countries worldwide and their main goal is to provide quality medical care to those who are unable to acquire it in their region due to threats of violence or the trauma of living in a post catastrophe environment. Doctors from all regions of the globe, and from all walks of life, come together to provide healthcare in an impartial way to those who need it most.

In March alone the Project 365 book helped to raise $86 for DwoB! Now admittedly that is awesome but I’d love to see that figure jump a mile! Photos are always a wonderful gift and what better way to give that gift than providing over 190 pages of unique photos from some amazingly talented individuals?

My mom has 5 photos featured in the publication; this is what the pages look like inside:

Think Father’s Day people! Don’t get dad another tie, golf club or fat filled meal, give him a gift that really counts and will bring a smile to his face! Not to mention the faces of those people who will benefit the most from access to medical care.

The book is only $46.95 for the softcover but I say go for the image wrapped hardcover version for that extra classy touch since it comes in at only $65.95.

Thanks so much Project 365 for donating your skills to such a worthy cause as DwoB, every dollar raised is a tremendous help and I’m proud that my own mom is a part of it!

♥love♥

Charles River Center Benefit Gala -- Building a Dream

Over the past couple months I have decided it is high time for my company to start giving back and I have been looking for charitable causes that I feel strongly about so I could do just that. As many of you know I run my own company, Chucka Stone Designs, which completes installations of various specialty paint treatments in an array of types, styles and locations.

I contributed one of my finishes to the Driscoll School Auction as the school this year was attempting to raise money for installation of Green initiatives in the building (hooray!) and also did a company match donation to the American Cancer Society’s Climb to Conquer Cancer which my sister took part in this past March. When my aunt recently sent out a request for donations to the Charles River Center Benefit Gala -- Building a Dream, I knew it was another very worthwhile cause!

My cousin is significantly developmentally delayed and lives in a group home with other disabled young adults, which is managed by the Charles River Arc. The Arc, dependent on state aide and private contributions, provides housing and programs that allow individuals to achieve a work / life balance in a positive and caring environment. Their clients, who might be considered to have a major disadvantage, accomplish amazing thing in terms of independence, friendships and productive social activities.

For example, my cousin volunteers at a nursing home, a pet shelter and with the Salvation Army and has made many great friends which I have had the pleasure of being introduced to over the years. He is fortunate to have residential services, but many of the clients still live at home, many with aging parents. If The Arc loses their day work program benefits through funding cuts, one parent would probably have to quit their job to stay home as these individuals aren’t independent enough to left alone throughout the entire day.

To me, this is a significant blow to an already struggling community of individuals and it only seemed right to help. I put together a collection of 3 picture frames, similar to the one in the picture above, and handed them off for my aunt to include in the silent auction. I know they won’t raise thousands of dollars but every last dime sure does count!

There is still time to donate! If you have been looking for a worthwhile charity to donate even a few dollars to, please consider the Charles River Center Building a Dream campaign. The gala takes place tonight, May 5. To donate you can click the link to be taken to the donation/gala attendance page. Thanks for considering this worthwhile charity which will continue to benefit my cousin and his friends in such a significant way.

Happy Earth Day!

Yea Earth, yea planet!

Back on Tuesday I asked for suggestions of ways to celebrate today’s momentous holiday. Being the 40th annual Earth Day I really wanted to do more than just what I do every day; I wanted to do something special!

One of my bloggy friends wylde otse over at Feast of Dragons was poetic with his suggestion:

“wriggle your toes in the earth, pretend to be a tree (worry about being cut down, or burned by a forest fire)

take a deep breath - breathe out 'thank you'

pull in pretend branches - give yourself a hug - for all the thoughtful environmental things you have done this year.

just before sleep tonight, imagine Gaia - at one with planet earth - conscious of you.
send love; sleep sound.”

Sounds pretty good to me! Especially the thanking Earth part. While I’m on the run today I plan to pay even more attention to the budding leaves of trees and tulips that made an appearance over night, breathe deep and do my best to enjoy the sun as much as possible.

Other things we can do that are fun, cheap and/or free:

~ Download some free music from a GLR favorite artist here at Benjamin Taylor Music.

~ Walk everywhere instead of driving if possible.

~ Become a fan of Sun Chips on Facebook and they donate $1.00 to environmental education causes (today only!) for every new fan.

~ Drink filtered tap water, turn off the water while brushing teeth, flush one less time today.

~ Purchase a reusable tote called “Love Your Mother” with the Mass Farmer’s Markets logo and filled with organic, stone ground chocolate from Taza. It is $45 and includes an automatic $20 donation to the Mass Farmer’s Markets.

~ Join a Freecycle group (or 3!) near you today!

~ Start planting your garden.

~ See Disneynature’s new movie Oceans (which opens today) during its first run week and a donation of $0.20 per ticket will be made to The Nature Conservancy’s Adopt a Reef Program in the Bahamas. They pledge a minimum donation of $100,000!

Most importantly, have fun, get outside and enjoy the planet today! Thanks Earth for another great year! ♥love♥

Thanks to astronomy-pictures.net for the picture! A very fun site to explore (hint, hint, another great thing to do on Earth Day!)

Redefine Christmas, For Every Occasion

For the past couple years my Mom has been both giving and receiving charitable donations as gifts for Christmas. Not only has it helped all of us to pare down the stuff we receive at that time of year but it makes us feel great to know that we are helping out another who truly needs it.

This year I had asked her to locate her favorite charity who’s mission was to keep music in schools. Sadly she was unable to find something so specific that was not regionally based (and outside of our own country at that) so instead she donated to the Surfrider Foundation; considering I love the ocean and music about equally it was a great choice!

For Matt a donation was made to the National Parks Association and it made us both feel pretty great to realize that both land and sea were taken care of this year.

My aunt replied to the email my mom sent out thanking her for her generous gifts and mentioned the organization Redefine Christmas. Apparently these folks have been getting a lot of press as of late as their message and thought is the exact same as my mom. Fantastic!

Partnered with JustGive.org and Changing the Present, the folks at Redefine Christmas help provide links to so many different charities there is surely one to fit every single person in all of our lives.

Many of you might be thinking it is odd that I am commenting on a Christmas charity just after that holiday has come to a close but I say no way! Let’s consider all that is coming up -- Valentine’s Day, birthdays, Passover, Independence Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, heck I bet there are holidays in a calendar year that people celebrate that I’ve never even heard of! What better way to show someone how much they mean than to give through them to someone truly in need?

I pledge this year to be the year of charitable donations, no fancy gift wrap, no expensive and newly created items that may or may not ever be used. No, instead for all of those holidays and more, this year is the year I give generously in other people’s names!

Who’s with me?

Thanks for the festive photo and the inspiration Mum, you are truly a pioneer!

‘Tis the Season for Sharing and Caring

Welcome back to Eco Fashion Friday loyal readers! This week I have a nice idea for all of you regarding some of our old fashions becoming a new piece for those in need.

Twice a year I sort through my wardrobe to swap over clothing for the seasons so a couple days ago I finally admitted that my flip flops and tank tops should probably be packed away and replaced by sweaters and winter accessories. Here in New England it is vital to have clothing that accommodates for every conceivable type of weather -- temperatures from below zero to over 100 degrees, snow, rain, sun, clouds, wind and any combination of those above.

With those sub zero temperatures on their way, the most important piece is a winter coat. I just recently purchased a new one as my old jacket had never been functional for me. The arms fit but my shoulders are quite a small frame so the jacket would slide backwards and it was uncomfortable. But because I am a gal who firmly believes that saving money is a virtue, I have worn this jacket for the past ten years anyway.

It is still in perfect shape, seeing as though there are not too many days below 20, so I had considered donating it to the Goodwill, until last night. While watching television I saw a commercial for the Burlington Coat Factory Coat Drive and knew just what to do with this jacket!

Together with One Warm Coat, this is the third year that the national chain will be receiving gently worn coats to help cover those who are greatly in need. Last year they received just over 177,000 coats and they hope to top that number this year. With donation stations at every customer service desk it is easy to donate.

Best of all, they will give a 10% off coupon to anyone donating so if you’re in the market for a new coat yourself and already planning to purchase one why not consider doing so at Burlington Coat Factory this season?

Those in need will be truly grateful for the donation and you save a little money in the process. Now that is what the holiday spirit is all about!

Eco Fashion Friday Featured Organization Bosom Buddy Bra Recycling

Alright girls, let us all be honest. In our lifetimes, since that tender age when we first put on our very first bra, how many of these necessary undergarments have we purchased and wore once but found them so uncomfortable we could never wear them again, outgrew the style or size, or worse, flat out simply never wore? Ten? More? What did we do with all of these rejects?

Well now thanks to Bosom Buddy Bra Recycling program, those of us who have freed ourselves from the constraints of the uncomfortable-for-us bra can now donate those garments to women in need!

The company was founded by Elaine Birks-Mitchell and her husband Johnny and is based out of Queen Creek, Arizona, a small town in Maricopa County located in the southwest area of the state. These amazing people receive bras from people all over the world and they redistribute them to deserving women in desperate situations.

Many of their articles go to shelters (many local) where the women are most concerned with accommodating for their own safety and security but a little thing as simple as a bra can help these women to feel more comfortable and confident again.

They only have four rules -- 1. wash it, 2. fill out a recycled bra form (found on the homepage), 3. box it up in something sturdy and 4. ship it to their facility. They will take any style, any size (a strong need for larger sizes is indicated on the website) and are interested in specialty bras as well (post surgery, etc). All the parts must be in good working order.

If you are a gal, or know a gal, who has one or two unused bras hanging around they can be sent on out to:

Bosom Buddy Bra Recycling
Attention: Elaine Birks-Mitchell
23844 S. Power Rd, Ste 102-433
Queen Creek, AZ 85142

Or if you are in the state of Arizona please review the drop off locations available for collection of the garments.

For such a wonderfully humanitarian organization I am granting Bosom Buddy Bra Recycling a Four Leaf Rating!

This is exactly what the Green movement is all about, doing all we can to help where and when we can. Keep up the great work Bosom Buddy and expect to see donations from a whole slew of Green Leaf Reviewer’s readers! ♥love♥

Eco Fashion Friday Feature on OneCause

A few days ago my sister, who many of you know is a Director of a preschool in Tucson, Arizona, sent out an email regarding a website she and her parents have been frequenting lately called OneCause. Her email gave some basic detail -- the site is a click through portal that leads to hundreds of merchants that her parents already shop at -- and I was intrigued.

The site costs nothing to join and it could not be easier to register, just providing a small amount of information gains access. Then each time you shop at the affiliated merchants just use the OneCause website to access their pages and voila!

You may be wondering why I have chosen to feature these folks on an Eco Fashion Friday. I have done so because many of the affiliated merchants are environmentally based and socially conscious clothing manufacturers. Fantastic!

By going through OneCause for your shopping needs, a percentage of the total is donated to the school or cause of your choice (varies by merchant). With just under 800 merchants on board it is almost impossible to count or list all of the fashion conscious choices but, with companies like Gaiam (who donates 3%) or Little Earth (4%) on board, it is easy to see how this Boston based company has already helped foster over $200 million in donations across 30,000 well deserving places in the ten short years it has been up and running.

My sister’s school, Adventure School in Tucson, could greatly benefit from this socially conscious shopping experience! I have registered with the site and chose Adventure School as the cause I want to contribute to. Next time I am shopping online I simply open the OneCause website, find my desired shop and go to it like normal.

Here is a good example:

I am traveling in November and likely will use Travelocity to book everything, keeping the process simplified. This particular company donates 1%. On a potential $1000 vacation that is a donation of $10 to the school. Over time those dollars really add up!

I hope that everyone will sign up and begin using OneCause as their primary portal into the online merchants they love. When selecting a school I do understand there are many choices but if you do not have children of your own in a currently supported school I strongly encourage everyone to select Adventure School in Tucson, AZ as your school to support.

Thanks everyone now get out and find those Green and environmentally responsible selections through this socially conscious manner!